Witchcraft and Seeking Help From Practioners of it

Question

Is there anything such as witch doctors? What should we do if someone says "I don't believe in magic" because "this is just an illusion"?

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

Sihr (witchcraft
or magic) is a word referring to something hidden. It is real and there are
kinds of witchcraft that may affect people psychologically and physically,
so that they become sick and die, or husbands and wives are separated. Its
effects happen by the will of Allah. It is a devilish action, most of which
is only achieved by means of shirk (polytheism) and drawing close to the
jinn and shayateen (devils) by means of that which they love, and it is
based on associating others with Allah (shirk).

There are doctors
who are also practitioners of witchcraft, who treat people by means of
seeking the help of the jinn. They claim to have knowledge of the sickness
with no need to identify it, and they prescribe for the patient foods and
drinks that bring him closer to his allies among the devils. He may tell
them to slaughter a pig whilst saying “Bismillah” (in the name of Allah)
over it, or to slaughter a permissible animal without saying “Bismillah”, or
when saying the name of one of the devils.

This is kufr or
disbelief in Allah, and it is not permissible under any circumstances to go
to these people. The hadd (Islaimic prescribed) punishment for these people
is execution. It has been proven from three of the sahabah (companions - may
Allah be pleased with them) that the practitioners of witchcraft are to be
put to death.

The Standing
Committee was asked a question about this matter, in which it was said:

Please note that
in Zambia there is a Muslim man who claims that he has with him a jinn, and
the people come to him and ask him to treat their sicknesses, and this jinn
states what their treatment should be. Is that permissible?

They replied:

It is not
permissible for this man to use the jinn, and it is not permissible for the
people to go to him seeking treatment for sickness through his using the
jinn, or to meet any other need by this means.

Seeking treatment
through human medical doctors and using permissible medicines is sufficient
and means that there is no need for that, and it keeps people safe from the
sorcery of the magicians.

It was narrated in
a saheeh (authentic) report that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever goes to a fortune-teller and asks him
about something, his prayer will not be accepted for forty days.” [Muslim].

And it was
narrated by the authors of al-Sunan and by al-Hakim, who classed it as
saheeh, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“Whoever goes to a soothsayer and believes what he says has disbelieved in
that which was revealed to Muhammad.”

This man and his
companions from among the jinn are regarded as being among the
fortune-tellers and soothsayers, so it is not permissible to ask them
anything or to believe them.

Fatawa al-Lajnah
al-Daimah.

Shaykh ‘Abd
al-‘Azeez ibn Baz said:

Given that there
are so many charlatans lately, who claim to be doctors and to treat people
by means of magic and witchcraft, and they have become widespread in some
countries and they exploit the naïveté of the ignorant, I thought that in
the spirit of sincerity towards Allah and His slaves, that I should explain
the grave danger that this poses to Islam and the Muslims, because it
involves dependence on something other than Allah and going against His
command and the command of His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him), so I say, seeking the help of Allah:

It is permissible
to seek treatment according to scholarly consensus. The Muslim may go to a
doctor to seek treatment for internal diseases, injuries, nervous
complaints, etc, so that he can identify the disease and treat it in an
appropriate manner, using medicines that are permissible according to
sharee’ah (Islamic law), based on his knowledge of medicine, because this
comes under the heading of using the ordinary means, and it is not contrary
to the idea of putting one's trust in Allah. Allah has sent down the disease
but He has also sent down with it the cure; those who know it know it and
those who do not do not. But Allah has not created the healing for His
slaves in that which He has forbidden to them, so it is not permissible for
the sick person to go to a soothsayer who claims to know the unseen, in
order to find out from them what is wrong with him. And it is not
permissible for him to believe what they tell him, because they speak of the
unseen without knowledge, or they summon the jinn and seek their help in
doing what they want. The ruling on these people is that they are kafirs
(disbelievers) and misguided, because they claim to have knowledge of the
unseen. Muslim narrated in his Saheeh that the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever goes to a fortune-teller and asks him
about something, his prayer will not be accepted for forty days.” And it was
narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever goes to a
soothsayer and believes what he says has disbelieved in that which was
revealed to Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).” [Abu
Dawood and the four authors of al-Sunan]. Al-Hakim narrated that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever goes to a
fortune-teller or soothsayer and believes what he says has disbelieved in
that which was revealed to Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him).” And it was narrated that ‘Imran ibn Husayn (may Allah be pleased with
him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
said: “He does not belong to us who observes bird omens or has that done for
him, or who seeks divination or who has that done for him, or who practices
witchcraft or has that done for him. Whoever goes to a soothsayer and
believes what he says has disbelieved in that which was revealed to Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).” [al-Bazzaar].

These ahadeeth
(reports) demonstrate that it is forbidden to go to soothsayers,
fortune-tellers, witches and the like, and ask them questions and believe
them, and a warning is issued to those who do this. Community leaders and
those in positions of power and authority must forbid going to
fortune-tellers, soothsayers and the like, and not allow anyone who deals in
such things to operate in the marketplaces or elsewhere. They should
denounce them emphatically, and denounce those who go to them. We should not
be deceived by the fact that they may get things right sometimes, or by the
fact that many people go to them, because they are ignorant and the people
should not be deceived by them. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) forbade going to them, asking them questions and believing them,
because this is a great evil, a serious danger and leads to bad
consequences, and because they are immoral liars. These ahadeeth also
indicate that soothsayers and witches are also kafirs, because they claim to
have knowledge of the unseen, which is kufr (disbelief), and because they
only reach their goals by serving the jinn and worshipping them instead of
Allah, which is kufr or disbelief in Him and associating others with Him
(shirk). The one who believes them and their claims to have knowledge of the
unseen is like them. Everyone who goes to these people and deals with them,
is disowned by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him). It is not permissible for the Muslim to accept what they claim is a
kind of treatment, such as their muttering mumbo-jumbo or pouring lead and
other kinds of nonsense that they do. This is a kind of sorcery and
deception of the people. Whoever accepts it is helping them in their
falsehood and kufr.

Majmoo’ Fatawa
al-Shaykh Ibn Baz.

Secondly:

With regard to
witchcraft (sihr), it is real and is not an illusion, and it may have an
effect by Allah’s leave.

Al-Qurafi said:
Sihr is real, and the person against whom it is done may die, or his nature
or habits may be changed, even if he does not deal with it himself. This was
the view of al-Shafi’i and Ibn Hanbal. Al-Furooq.

The Mu’tazalis,
Qadaris and some of the scholars held a different view, but no attention
should be paid to that. Al-Qurafi and others mentioned that the sahabah
(companions) were unanimously agreed that it is real before there appeared
those who denied that.

The evidence of
Ahl al-Sunnah (those upon the prophetic teachings) concerning that is as
follows:

1. Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning):

“… but the
shayateen (devils) disbelieved, teaching men magic and such things that came
down at Babylon to the two angels, Harut and Marut, but neither of these two
(angels) taught anyone (such things) till they had said, “We are for trial,
so disbelieve not (by learning this magic from us).” And from these (angels)
people learn that by which they cause separation between man and his wife,
but they could not thus harm anyone except by Allah’s leave. And they learn
that which harms them and profits them not.” [2:102]

This verse clearly
indicates what we are trying to say, which is that sihr (witchcraft) is
real, and that the practitioner of witchcraft may create a division between
a man and his wife thereby, and that he may harm people by means of his
witchcraft, but he cannot do any harm except by Allah’s leave.

2. Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning):

“And from the evil
of those who practice witchcraft when they blow in the knots.”
[113:4]

“… those who
practice witchcraft when they blow in the knots” refers to female witches
whose witchcraft involved tying knots then blowing into them. If witchcraft
were not something real, Allah would not have commanded us to seek refuge
from it.

3. Further
evidence is provided by the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) was bewitched by the Jew Labeed ibn al-A’asam. This is a
saheeh hadeeth (authentic narration) that was narrated by al-Bukhari and
Muslim.

Ibn al-Qayyim
said: The witchcraft which can cause sickness, lethargy, mental sickness,
love, hatred and delusions is something that does exist and is known by the
masses. Many people know it from experience. Al-Tafsir al-Qayyim.

Thirdly:

There are many
types of witchcraft, including illusions and deceiving the eyes. But not all
sihr is as such. Some scholars listed different kinds of witchcraft, and
counted eight kinds, the most well known of which are:

1. Knots and
incantations

i.e., reciting
words and mumbo-jumbo by means of which the witch is able to use the devils
to do what he wants of harming the person being bewitched. But Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning):

“… but they could
not thus harm anyone except by Allah’s leave.” [2:102]

2. Sleight of
hand

They become
skilled in this by means of practice and training to do things quickly, and
bring out something hidden.

For example, the
magician may bring a dove and strangle it in front of the audience; then he
hits it with his hand and it gets up and flies.

But in fact there
was a kind of anesthetic in his hand and he made it smell it and made the
audience think that he had strangled it and killed it, then when he hits it,
he wakes it up from that stupor.

3. Bewitching
the eyes

This is very
common among the liars; the magician does not really put a sword in his
body, rather he bewitches the eyes of the audience, and puts the sword by
his side, but the bewitched people think that he puts it through his
middle.

These tricksters
have become well known among us, because among the audience there are those
who protected themselves with Quran and dhikr (remembrance of Allah), and
remembered Allah a great deal whilst sitting in the gathering watching the
magician, so they saw what really happened, unlike what those who were
bewitched saw.

4. Using
chemicals

This is done well
by those who know how substances react with one another, thus producing a
substance that is not affected by some other substances, such as the Sufi
Rifa’iyyah who make people think that they are not affected by fire, when in
fact they coat themselves with some fireproof substances. Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) challenged them to wash with hot
water before entering the fire and they refused because this would have
exposed their deceit.

And there are many
other things that the practitioners of witchcraft do, which could not happen
unless Allah decreed it.